Harris and Whiting evaluated online learning experiences and their findings can likely be extended to other contexts. The investigators found that “Participants in online classrooms struggle to make sense of emotional interactions. This is due to the separation of physical place between persons and the inability to see the reaction of bodies in online classrooms. . . . This study uses a microethnographic approach to observe two online multicultural education courses over a 7-week term to explore the normative and socially organized practices of affect and emotion. . . . Findings suggest the emotional geography of online, synchronous classrooms are characterized by the duality of space and place. This includes tensions around visualizing affect and understanding emotion without shared references and physical places.”
Elizabeth Harris and Erin Whiting. 2024. “Embodied Place in Disembodied Space: The Emotional Geography of Online Classrooms.” Emotion, Space and Society, vol. 50, 100988, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2023.100988